Hybrid credit card transaction system

ABSTRACT

A hybrid credit card transaction system that processes transactions as either virtual standard transactions directed through a clearinghouse or as virtual closed loop transactions bypassing the clearinghouse, is disclosed. The system includes a logic enabled merchant that detects virtual closed loop transactions and directs them to an affiliated acquiring entity which acquires the virtual closed loop transactions and routes them directly to an affiliated card issuing entity so as to bypass the clearinghouse. The affiliated card issuing entity debits virtual standard transactions to a credit card account and virtual closed loop transactions to a private label account. The logic enabled merchant, associated acquiring entity and the associated card entity may be affiliated by participation in an Internet site that promotes transactions between small businesses and merchants selling wholesale goods. A reduction in processing fees accrued when bypassing the clearinghouse promotes issuance and use of the hybrid credit cards.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/812,452, filed Mar. 20, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,752,134 and titled“Hybrid Credit Card Transaction System,” the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the use of transaction cards tofacilitate commercial transactions, more particularly to the use of ahybrid credit card that can be used to conduct revolving credittransactions and private label credit transactions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A large number of firms are in heavy competition to gain market share inthe consumer credit market. Consumers of credit cards tend to showlittle loyalty to any one credit card. This is in part due to an influxof offers from competing credit cards having low initial “teaser” ratesand the ease of switching from one card to the next. Credit cardsponsors have attempted to inspire loyalty in the cardholders by tyinguse of the card to a reward system. Some credit card sponsors awardpoints in proportion to the amount of dollar transactions conducted.These points can then be exchanged with the sponsoring airline for freeairfare. Another marketing tactic is to tie the total expenditures peryear to a cash-back reward that is a small fraction of the totalexpenditures. Despite the success of some of the incentive programs inobtaining and retaining customers, reward systems are typically costlyto implement and can have a detrimental effect on profit margins.

Incentive programs can also be tied to transactions limited to aparticular group of transactions where the sponsor is both the acquiringbank and the issuing bank in what is referred to as an “on-us”transaction. In a typical credit card transaction, a cardholder makes apurchase at a merchant and the merchant forwards the transaction to anacquiring bank. The acquiring bank processes the transaction for a feeand sends the transaction through a credit card association network(VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS, etc.). The credit card associationnetwork further processes the transaction for a fee and sends thetransaction to the card sponsoring bank. The card sponsoring bank thenposts the transaction to the cardholder's credit account. In an “on-us”transaction, the acquiring bank and the sponsoring bank are the sameentity, which allows the acquiring bank to clear the transaction withoutforwarding the transaction through the credit card association networkand incurring a predetermined fee, or other additional fees. The absenceof the credit card association network fee allows the sponsoring bank tomore easily support incentives for “on-us” purchases and thereby inspirecustomer loyalty. Despite the ability to offer incentives for “on-us”transactions, the situations in which an “on-us” transaction can occurare fairly limited. Typically, the merchant must be in a customizedagreement with the card sponsor, or must be the card sponsor itself,limiting the number of merchants participating in “on-us” credittransactions.

Merchant exchanges specialize in transactions between merchants wherebulk purchases of goods and/or services are made for later resale inretail transactions. Because of the high overall value and low profitmargins associated with each transaction, use of credit cards is limitedby their relatively high fees. On the other hand, credit must typicallybe extended by one of the parties to the other to complete thetransaction. Evaluating the credit-worthiness of the opposing party isdifficult and costly, and tends to limit the access of many smallbusinesses to merchant exchanges.

It would be advantageous to have a credit card that provides sufficientincentives to attract new cardholders and inspire loyalty in currentcardholders. It would also be advantageous to have a credit card thatfacilitates varied transactions with several types of merchants. Anotherdesired feature would be a credit card that can be used by smallbusinesses to purchase from merchants on a merchant exchange without themerchant incurring large fees. Finally, it would be advantageous to havea credit card that increases the number of transactions throughincentives while minimizing the detrimental effects on the cardsponsor's profits.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A hybrid credit card transaction system that processes transactions aseither virtual standard transactions directed through a clearinghouse oras virtual closed loop transactions bypassing the clearinghouse, isdisclosed. Bypassing the clearinghouse reduces the fees associated withstandard credit cards and allows the use of an incentive fee structurepromoting the issuance and use of the hybrid credit card.

In a first embodiment, the present invention includes a hybrid creditcard transaction system for processing a plurality of transactions aseither virtual standard transactions routed through a clearinghouse oras virtual closed loop transactions bypassing the clearinghouse. Thetransaction system includes a hybrid credit card for initiating purchasetransactions. The transaction system also includes a logic-enabledmerchant having a point of sale terminal including program logicoperable to detect the hybrid credit card. The program logic labels eachof the transactions as either one of a group of virtual standardtransactions or virtual closed loop transactions. An affiliatedacquiring entity is configured to acquire and direct the virtualstandard transactions to the clearinghouse and to acquire and direct thevirtual closed loop transactions so as to bypass the clearinghouse. Anaffiliated card issuing entity accepts the virtual standard transactionsfrom the clearinghouse and debits a credit card account and accepts thevirtual closed loop transactions and debits a private label account.

In another embodiment, the transaction system includes a processingelement having an incentive fee structure that returns an incentive feeto the cardholder, the logic-enabled merchant, or both, for conductingvirtual closed loop transactions with the hybrid credit card.

In yet another embodiment, the hybrid credit card includes a cardidentifier having a first string identifying the virtual closed looptransactions and a second string identifying the virtual standardtransactions. The first string may include a merchant category codemodified to identify the virtual closed loop transactions. The cardidentifier in either case is detectable by the program logic of thelogic-enabled merchant.

In still another embodiment, the present invention includes a productrollout method that is usable by an affiliated card issuing entity forpromoting transactions between small businesses and affiliated andnon-affiliated merchants. The product rollout method includes providingan internet site for sales by affiliated merchants to the smallbusinesses and registering the small businesses for transactions on theinternet site. The affiliated issuing entity offers a private labelaccount and a credit card account to each of the small businessesregistered on the internet site. A hybrid credit card is issued havingan identification number with a string associated with the private labelaccount and a string associated with the credit card account.Transactions with non-affiliated merchants are cleared to the creditcard account for a fee. Transactions with affiliated merchants on theInternet site are cleared to the private label line of credit for asecond fee that is lower than the first fee such that transactions onthe internet site and adoption of the hybrid credit card are promoted.

The advantage of the present invention for the logic-enabled merchantand hybrid credit cardholder is that the credit card associationregulated interchange and card association network fees are avoided,allowing the merchant and cardholder to share the cost savings. Theadvantage for the affiliated acquiring entity is an increase in thenumber of transactions and accompanying interchange fees. The advantagefor the affiliated card issuing entity is an increase in the number ofcardholders and credit balances accruing interest charges.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn toscale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a standard credit card transactionprocessing system of the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a hybrid credit card transaction systemof the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a virtual closed loop transaction whichis part of the hybrid credit card transaction system shown in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodimentsof the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Likenumbers refer to like elements throughout.

The invention relates to a standard credit card transaction system. FIG.1 is a schematic of a standard credit card transaction of the prior artdepicting a purchase transaction occurring between a merchant 11 and acardholder 12. To make a purchase from the merchant 11, the cardholder12 presents a credit card to the merchant in return for the receipt ofgoods and/or services. The merchant 11 either makes an imprint of thecredit card or otherwise gathers information on an identification numberof the card. The merchant 11 then seeks authorization for thetransaction and settlement for the transaction from an acquiring bank13. The merchant 11 gets authorization from the acquiring bank 13 bycommunicating the information about the transaction to the acquiringbank including the credit card number and the amount of the transaction.The acquiring entity 13 communicates the credit card number andtransaction amount through a clearinghouse 14 for approval andsettlement. The acquiring entity 13 receives a merchant discount fee forthe services from the standard merchant 11.

The clearinghouse 14 is also known as a credit card association networkand can be, for example, MASTERCARD, VISA, or AMERICAN EXPRESS. Theclearinghouse 14 communicates the card number and transaction amount toa card issuing bank 15, seeking approval and settlement. Theclearinghouse 14 receives financial benefits from the acquiring bank 13and pays fees to the card issuing bank 15 as compensation forfacilitating the transaction. These fee structures are predetermined bythe clearinghouse.

The card issuing bank has issued the credit card to the cardholder and acredit card account 12 in conjunction with, or accessed by, the card.The card issuing bank 15 compares the amount of the purchase with acurrent balance and a credit limit of the credit card account 12associated with the credit card number communicated from theclearinghouse 14. The card issuing bank 15 approves the transaction ifthere is sufficient credit remaining or may deny the transaction if thecredit limit has been exceeded. If approved, the card issuing bank 15deducts the transaction amount from the credit card account 12 of thecardholder and via the acquiring bank forwards the amount to an accountof the standard merchant 11. The card issuing bank 15 tallies the amountof all transactions for a particular period and submits a statement tothe cardholder for payment on the credit card account.

A hybrid credit card transaction system 10 of the present inventionincludes a hybrid credit card that can be used in either a virtualstandard credit card transaction accessing a credit card account or in avirtual closed loop transaction accessing a private label line ofcredit. FIG. 2 is a schematic of the hybrid credit card transactionsystem 10 using the hybrid credit card of the current invention. Thediagram depicts two alternative types of transactions available whenusing the system 10, one a virtual standard credit card transaction andthe other a virtual closed loop credit card transaction. The term“virtual” herein pertains to the aspect of the invention that mimics theprior art standard and closed loop transactions so as to be transparentto the buyer and the merchant. Transactions using the hybrid credit cardcan be conducted in situations where the cardholder and hybrid creditcard are present during the transactions (face-to-face transactions), insituations where the cardholder and payment card are not present (e.g.,telephone order, mail order and internet transactions), and insituations where the cardholder has authorized periodically recurringcharges to be posted against their credit card account 12 or privatelabel line of credit 16. Also, the term “hybrid credit card” is usedbroadly to denote a form of identification of an account or accountsthat can even be independent of a physical card.

The virtual standard transaction includes the standard merchant 11, theacquiring bank 13, the clearinghouse 14, an affiliated card issuingentity 19 and the revolving line of credit 12. The virtual closed loopsystem includes a logic-enabled merchant 17, an affiliated acquiringentity 18, the affiliated card issuing entity 19 and a private labelline of credit 16. The affiliated acquiring entity 18, affiliated cardissuing entity 19 and the logic-enabled merchant 17 are all affiliatedthrough a prior agreement to reduce fees, offer incentives or somehowcooperate to the advantage of the affiliates or the cardholders toincrease the number of cards issued. A discussion of one embodiment ofthe incentive system follows hereafter in this specification.

Purchases made with the hybrid credit card at a standard merchant 11invoke the virtual standard transaction process with the acquiring bank13 acquiring the transaction and the clearinghouse 14 clearing thetransaction. However, the affiliated card issuing entity 19 handles thestandard transaction as would the card issuing bank 15, modifying thestatus of the credit card account 12 to debit or credit the transaction.In this manner, the use of the hybrid credit card is extended beyondvirtual closed loop transactions. The affiliated card issuing entity 19benefits from an increase in the number of standard transactions usingthe hybrid credit cards which might not have been issued if not for theadvantages to be had in the virtual closed-loop transactions.

When the hybrid credit card is used at a logic-enabled merchant 17, thelogic-enabled merchant transmits the hybrid credit card identificationnumber to the affiliated acquiring entity 18. The affiliated acquiringentity seeks an authorization directly from the affiliated issuingentity 19 and the issuing entity deducts the transaction amount from theprivate label line of credit. Because of the affiliation agreement andthe output of the logic-enabled merchant 17, the clearinghouse 14 isbypassed, along with the interchange and clearinghouse fees, as shownmore clearly in FIG. 3. Bypassing these fees allows incentives to bemore easily extended to cardholders when using the hybrid credit cardfor virtual closed loop transactions.

The logic-enabled merchant 17 detects the difference between thestandard transaction and the virtual closed loop transaction using thecredit card identification number. The hybrid credit card includes acredit card identification number having a first string associated withthe private label line of credit 16 and a second string associated withthe credit card account 12. The logic-enabled merchant 17 detects thefirst string using program logic resident within a logic-enabled pointof sale terminal. The pairing of the hybrid credit card and thelogic-enabled point of sale terminal facilitates the discrete processingof a set of virtual closed loop transactions without interfering withthe functionality of the point of sale terminal in its role as a datacapture device for standard credit card transactions. The merchant pointof sale terminal, as designated herein, is used in an expansive senseand refers to any data capture and transmission device used to processpayment card transactions. Point of sale terminals include, but are notlimited to, stand-alone terminals, unattended terminals, web sites andpersonal computers. The term “string” is used herein to indicate anynumber of letters, objects, symbols, bar codes or numbers or acombination thereof that can be read or submitted to the logic enabledmerchant 17.

In another embodiment, the first string is placed in a field that onstandard transaction cards is known as a Merchant Category Code (MCC).In standard practice, the MCC is a constant value for all transactionsprocessed through a single merchant terminal. The MCC is typicallyassigned during the configuration of the merchant terminal and is usedto designate a specific merchant in the case of the airlines, autorental agencies and hotels, or is used to designate a general productcategory of the product or service being sold, e.g., shoe stores,women's accessory and specialty stores and chiropractors. Computerprogram logic resident in the logic enabled merchant terminal changesthe merchant category code to identify the transaction as a virtualclosed loop transaction. The MCC is only changed if the transaction isexecuted using a hybrid credit card or hybrid credit card account numberwhich is a member of a class of cards or numbers designated for closedloop transaction processing. The use of the MCC to designate a virtualclosed loop transaction promotes the unique processing of thattransaction by the logic enabled merchant 17, the affiliated acquiringentity 18 and the affiliated card issuing entity 19.

The affiliated acquiring entity 18 acquires the card identificationnumber using it to identify the virtual closed loop transaction anddirects the transaction straight to the affiliated card issuing entity19, bypassing the clearinghouse 14. The affiliated card issuing entity19 then compares the transaction amount with the available private labelline of credit 16 and deducts the amount of the transaction ifsufficient credit is available. If sufficient credit is not available,the transaction is denied or treated differently, as determined byprevious agreement. The affiliated card issuing entity 19 compiles abilling statement periodically on both the private label line of credit16 and the revolving line of credit 12 which is sent to the hybridcredit card cardholder.

The advantage of the present invention for the logic-enabled merchant 17and hybrid credit cardholder is that the interchange and predeterminedclearinghouse established fees are avoided, allowing the merchant andcardholder to share the cost savings. In addition, the cardholderbenefits from the increased versatility of the hybrid credit card whichcan be used for multiple transaction types. The advantage for theaffiliated acquiring entity 18 is an increase in the number oftransactions and accompanying interchange fees. The advantage for theaffiliated card issuing entity 19 is an increase in the number ofcardholders and credit balances accruing interest charges.

In another embodiment, the present invention includes a product rolloutmethod usable by the affiliated card issuing entity 19 to introduce andpromote distribution and acceptance of the hybrid credit card bypotential cardholders, in particular small businesses. An internet siteis established for sales of bulk goods by a group of affiliatedlogic-enabled merchants 17 to small businesses. Each of the affiliatedmerchants uses the same affiliated acquiring entity or entities 18 thatare equipped to detect the hybrid card identification code and routevirtual closed loop transactions straight to the affiliated card issuingentity 19 for a merchant discount fee. In one aspect, the internet siteis a merchant exchange where merchant groups that deal in the same typesof goods meet to participate in transactions for those goods. Theaffiliation is not limited to the members of an internet site but couldalso include members of different merchant groups that deal in the sametype of goods and/or service or have some other common connection. Also,the cardholders on the internet site need not be limited to smallbusinesses but could also be common consumers.

A small business accesses the affiliated internet site through the WorldWide Web using an internet browser. In order for the small business tomake a purchase from one of the affiliated merchants, the small businessmust become a registered user. The small business is prompted on theinternet site by the affiliated card issuing entity 19 to establish botha private label account and a credit card account associated with thehybrid credit card. The affiliated issuing entity approves ordisapproves the small business applicant based on the credit history ofthe small business. If approved, the affiliated issuing entity issuesthe hybrid credit card having the identification number with the stringassociated with the private label account 16 and the string associatedwith the credit card account 12. The use of private label line of creditcan also be referred to as a “diversion account” or a “ghost account”that is used to capture virtual closed loop transactions and effectivelysegregate them from other standard transactions which may also beexecuted using the same hybrid credit card.

The affiliated acquiring entity 18 is then free to acquire transactionsbetween the newly registered small business and the logic-enabledmerchant 17. Clearing by the affiliated card acquiring entity 19 isperformed for transactions on the internet site at a reduced fee thatbenefits the merchant and the small business by lowering overall costs.The merchant and small business also benefit from an assured line ofcredit, freeing them from previous concerns about the creditworthinessof the opposite party. The product roll out method benefits theaffiliated acquiring entity 18 by providing an incentive for themerchant and small business to conduct transactions on the internet siteusing the hybrid credit card, increasing the fees earned by theaffiliated acquiring entity. The issuing entity 19 benefits from theproduct roll out method in that the incentives promote the issuance ofan increased number of hybrid credit cards which can also be used instandard revolving credit transactions.

Many types of incentives can be used, but the incentives are preferablyin the form of a discount on processing fees levied on the logic-enabledmerchant 17. The small businesses may also receive a benefit in that theusual fee incurred when using a standard charge card for bulk purchasesmay be waived or reduced. The incentives can be awarded by any and toany of the parties to the transaction and clearing process. Typically,the party awarding the incentive is the party receiving the benefit ofbypassing the clearinghouse 14 and its associated fees.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come tomind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains havingthe benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions andthe associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that theinvention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed andthat modifications and other embodiments are intended to be includedwithin the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms areemployed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense onlyand not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed:
 1. A hybrid credit card transaction system forprocessing a transaction, initiated by a cardholder using a hybridcredit card, as either one of a group of virtual standard transactionsrouted through a clearinghouse or as one of a group of virtual closedloop transactions bypassing the clearinghouse, said transaction systemcomprising: a hybrid credit card; a merchant having a point-of-saleterminal configured to identify the hybrid credit card and to label thetransaction using the hybrid credit card as being one of the virtualclosed loop transactions; an affiliated acquiring entity configured toacquire and direct the virtual standard transactions to theclearinghouse and configured to acquire and direct the virtual closedloop transactions so as to bypass the clearinghouse; and an affiliatedcard issuing entity configured to accept the virtual standardtransactions from the clearinghouse and to debit a credit card accountand to accept the virtual closed loop transactions and to debit aprivate label account; wherein the acquiring entity and the card issuingentity participating in the virtual closed loop transaction are separateentities.
 2. The hybrid credit card transaction system of claim 1,further comprising a processing element having an incentive feestructure that is configured to return an incentive to the cardholderfor conducting virtual closed loop transactions with the hybrid creditcard.
 3. The hybrid credit card transaction system of claim 2, whereinsaid incentive is in proportion to a fee avoided when bypassing theclearinghouse.
 4. The hybrid credit card transaction system of claim 1,further comprising a processing element having an incentive feestructure that is configured to return an incentive to the merchant forconducting virtual closed loop transactions with the hybrid credit card.5. The hybrid credit card transaction system of claim 4, wherein saidincentive is in proportion to a fee avoided when bypassing theclearinghouse.
 6. The hybrid credit card transaction system of claim 1,wherein said hybrid credit card comprises a card identifier having afirst string identifying the virtual closed loop transactions and asecond string identifying the virtual standard transactions, said cardidentifier detectable by the point-of-sale terminal.
 7. The hybridcredit card transactions system of claim 6, wherein said first stringcomprises a merchant category code modified to identify the virtualclosed loop transactions.
 8. The hybrid credit card transaction systemof claim 1, wherein the merchant is one of a group of affiliatedmerchants participating in sales on an internet site.
 9. The hybridcredit card transaction system of claim 8, wherein the cardholder is asmall business and the internet site is a marketplace forbusiness-to-business transactions.
 10. The hybrid credit cardtransaction system of claim 1, wherein the credit card account comprisesa revolving credit line.
 11. The hybrid credit card transaction systemof claim 1, wherein the private label line of credit is an unsecuredcredit line that must be periodically paid in full.
 12. The hybridcredit card transaction system of claim 1, wherein the affiliated cardissuing entity issues separate periodic statements of transactionactivity on the private label line of credit and the credit account tothe cardholder.
 13. The hybrid credit card transaction system of claim1, wherein the affiliate agreement is further agreed upon by themerchant, said affiliate agreement further defining a fee structure forcrediting and debiting fees resulting from the virtual closed looptransaction amongst the merchant, the affiliated acquiring entity andthe affiliated card issuing entity.